Warning: SPOILERS for Disney's Secret Society of Second-Born Royals.
The ending of Disney's Secret Society of Second-Born Royals contained a shocking villain twist where the Society's trainees are betrayed by one of their own, and it also sets up a sequel to continue the story. Set in the fictional island-nation of Illyria, "the smallest country in Europe", Secret Society of Second-Born Royals posits a world where every second-born royal actually has superpowers and is recruited to be part of a global superhero team that keeps the world (and its monarchies) safe. The Society is led by Catherine (Elodie Yung), the Queen of Illyria, while the trainees are mentored by James Morrow (Skylar Astin), a prince who can make duplicates of himself.
Secret Society of Second-Born Royals concludes with Sam (Peyton Elizabeth Lee), the rebellious princess of Illyria, teaming up with her fellow Second-Born trainees Roxana (Olivia Deeble), Tuma (Niles Fitch), and Matteo (Faly Rakotohavana) to stop Sam's uncle Edmund (Greg Byrk) from attacking the coronation of Illyria's new Queen, Eleanor (Ashley Liao), who is Sam's older sister. Edmund is a telekinetic and former Society member who had previously escaped 10 years of solitary confinement for murdering his own brother, who was Illyria's former King, and Sam's father. With the help of Sam's best friend Mike (Noah Lomax), the Second-Borns were able to use their powers (Sam has super senses, Roxana can turn invisible, Tuma has the power of persuasion, and Matteo can control insects) to stop Edmund's plan to use a DNA-coded nano-device to wipe out all of the royals of the world who were in attendance at Eleanor's coronation.
However, the Second-Borns taking on Edmund was complicated by the fact that he was being aided by his partner-in-crime, January (Isabella Blake-Thomas), who was their friend and fellow trainee and whose power allows her to temporarily take other Second-Borns' powers (like Rogue of the X-Men but without also draining their life energies). January escaped capture, which sets up the inevitable sequel. Here is the full breakdown of Secret Society of Second-Born Royals' ending, what it all means, and how the heroes' journey of Sam and her friends will continue.
Every Clue To January's Villain Twist
While January seemed sincerely friendly and nice, there were clues the princess from Luxembourg was duplicitous all along. The biggest tell was January offering Sam a red apple after Sam passed a test of her powers and realized her lunch was poisoned. January told Sam that "red apples are my favorite", but it was a red apple delivered to Edmund containing the final component of a device that allowed Inmate 34 to escape prison. Later, January told Edmund that the "apples were a brilliant idea". Since Secret Society of Second-Born Royals is a Disney film, the red apple is likely a subtle nod to the Wicked Queen's poison apple in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
Another clue was January praising Sam for having a backup smartphone when James confiscated their phones. January said it was "smart" because she also had a backup she used to communicate with Edmund. Sam also later pieced together that January played her so that Sam would take her into her palace - and Sam inadvertently told January Catherine's master access code to unlock all doors, including access to the "Batcave" beneath the palace, which is the Society's secret headquarters.
January was in cahoots with Edmund because they had a quid pro quo agreement: she would help him escape prison so that Edmund could eliminate the royals attending Eleanor's coronation and he would take out January's twin brother, allowing her to rule Luxembourg. (It's not clear if January's brother was also attending the coronation or if Edmund would eliminate him later.) But January won't kill her brother herself because, in her words, "that would make me an awful person". In fact, January originally made a point of locking her fellow Second-Borns in the SSSBR's cell beneath the castle to spare them from the nano-device Edmund stole to use on the royals. So while January is certainly diabolical and power-hungry, she also seems to like her ex-friends and she has lines she won't cross... yet.
Edmund And January's Villain Plan Explained
Edmund spent ten years in solitary confinement after he killed his own brother and Catherine had him imprisoned. Edmund was a former member of the Secret Society so Catherine had him wiped from public knowledge and equipped him with a power dampening collar (although it's unclear why Edmund's mind wasn't wiped and his powers weren't removed since that's what happens to trainees who aren't accepted into the Society). At some point, January made contact with Edmund and hatched their scheme to release him so that he could eliminate all of the royals, and she began sending him pieces of the device in red apples to allow him to escape prison.
However, it's unknown whether January knew about the Secret Society of Second-Born Royals beforehand (maybe Edmund told her she would be tapped for membership as a second-born) or if she was surprised as Sam, Tuma, Roxana, and Matteo that the Society existed. Either way, being part of the Society became crucial to January and Edmund's scheme because it meant she could spend the summer in Illyria, learn the inner workings of the Society, and eventually gain access to their headquarters and arsenal of confiscated super-villain devices. So it can be surmised that Edmund had given January plenty of advance intel on the Society. Once January was a trainee and discovered her own power (unless she already knew what her power was), she improvised a lot of the plan, like deciding to steal Tuma's power of persuasion.
Edmund's ultimate goal was to eliminate all royals by using the stolen DNA-based nan0-device programmed to target specific genes, i.e. royal bloodlines. But it turns out Edmund wasn't planning on killing all of the royals; the nano-device emits a black gas that imprisons its targets within the device instead (not unlike how the Ghostbusters trap ghosts). Edmund tried to get Sam to agree with his plan since Sam has always rebelled against being a royal, but Sam doesn't want other royals killed or eliminated; rather, she was happy that Eleanor agreed to create a Parliament to give the people of Illyria a voice in government. But considering Edmund's apparent hatred of other royals, it makes one wonder whether he would have let January become Queen of Luxembourg had their plot succeeded or if they would have eventually turned on each other.
How Secret Society of Second-Born Royals Sets Up A Sequel
After Edmund was captured, Sam, Tuma, Roxana, and Matteo were accepted into the Secret Society of Second-Born Royals since, after all, they saved the rest of the royals of the world. Catherine also took the unprecedented step of telling Queen Eleanor that the Society exists, cluing her in on the truth about Edmund and her father's death, and allowing sisters Eleanor and Sam to come to an understanding.
However, January escaped capture since Mike had only knocked her unconscious and she was forgotten about while the rest of the Second-Borns teamed up to stop Edmund. As for how January escaped Illyria, she must have retained Tuma's persuasion power and talked her way out of the country. Based on how long she was able to keep Princess Anna of Spain's (Sofia Pernas) power to breathe underwater, January must have mastered being able to keep a stolen power long-term (although it seems that Tuma's power eventually did return to him after January swiped it).
Now that Sam, Matteo, Roxana, and Tuma are bonafide members of the Society, Catherine sent them on their first assignment: capturing January. The princess of Luxembourg broke into an "unbreakable" bank fault in Geneva and stole enough money to finance a coup against her own brother. But January also left a fingerprint behind as a taunt for her former friends to come and try to stop her. The new members of the Society boarded a jet to go catch their ex-friend, which sets up Secret Society of Second-Born Royals 2.
But the final moments of Secret Society of Second-Born Royals' ending also leaves a big open question behind: since January knows all about the Society, will they merely attempt to capture and imprison her or will they also be forced to wipe her mind and eliminate her powers, since that's what's supposed to happen to trainees not accepted into the Society? With the Second-Borns off for a rematch against their former friend, things may get even more complicated for them in Secret Society of Second-Born Royals 2.
All The Best Movies Streaming On Disney+ Right Now
Disney's Secret Society of Second-Born Royals is available to stream on Disney+.